Self-Portrait Albemarle Street
The new flagship store in Albemarle Street in London's Mayfair has been designed by Casper Mueller Kneer Architects, renown for their work for the arts and fashion for clients such as White Cube Gallery, the Barbican Art Centre and collaborations with fashion house Céline.
This will be the first stand-alone store for Self-Portrait and sets the design concept for further stores to follow.
The store, which has 233 m2 of space, is set over ground and lower ground floors and offers a sequence of spaces flowing into each other, creating zones with distinct spatial and material qualities.
Three design elements define the space - the custom designed terrazzo flooring with pink and white marble insets, the open grid ceiling which creates a continuous, luminous horizon, and the dark and heavy Cornish mineral clay render, which is applied to all wall and ceiling surfaces.
Simple geometric forms structure the spaces: at ground level, two semi-circular metal screens with coloured aluminium inlays provide the hanging rails as well as visual shelter, and at the lower floor the main space is shaped in the form of a triangle.
Smaller ante-rooms with deliberately odd geometries are located off these main spaces. Two staircases allow a playfully loop of discovery through the store.
Furniture pieces are custom-designed by Casper Mueller Kneer and fine artist Michael Elmgreen and the store will also offer a dedicated space for curated video artwork.
